Detroit motor show 2013: Mercedes-Benz CLA

Andrew English tracks down the new Mercedes Benz CLA and E-class at the Detroit
motor show.

The new CLA four-door coupé was not strictly a Detroit debut as it only appeared at the three-pointed star event on the eve of the show and then in a sealed-up tent. Andrew English gained access, however, and took this snap of Mercedes' chief designer, Robert Lešnik, with the carPhoto: ANDREW ENGLISH

Only the most grudging of spirit could fail to acknowledge that the Mercedes-Benz CLA wasn’t a pretty good looking car. There were a few such folk around at the Detroit motor show. One suggested that the side view is over adorned with creases which don’t really go anywhere, which is probably true, but nothing’s perfect, especially these days. I thought it very handsome and it sits on its wheelbase more happily than the new CLS from which it is inspired.

Robert Lesnik, Mercedes' head of passenger exterior design, explained what a battle it had been to keep the looks and get the world-beating aerodynamics. “The guys in the wind tunnel like to do a big thing and then take bits off, but I like to do little things,” he said. “Funnily enough we end up in the same place, but I get to keep most of the original design.”

This is the third incarnation of the A-class chassis floorpan, which also supports the B-class, the A-class (natch) and a new SUV crossover that will appear in Shanghai later this year. Nissan has bought the chassis as part of the cooperation deal it has with Mercedes and so it will also appear under the Infiniti small saloon, which debuts at the Geneva motor show in March and which will be built at the company’s Sunderland plant in Tyne and Wear.

Mercedes claims the 15ft 2.3in-long CLA has world-leading aerodynamics (a Cd value of 0.22 at best although that model might not come to the UK), which it derives from the 2012 Concept Style Coupé. That car was 0.4in wider and 0.8in lower than the production car and it ran on 20in rather than 19in wheels – no wonder some of the magic has been lost. As you might imagine, therefore, the rear seats are slightly compromised by the roof line and the rear accommodation is optimistically labelled, "two-plus-one".

There will also be a 4Matic 4x4 system, which will debut on the CLA, although again, it probably won’t come to the UK. That’s a shame as it had a fully variable torque split between front and rear axles and at 154lb (70kg), it is the lightest 4x4 system in its class.

The CLA goes on sale in the UK in March this year, with a choice of 2.0- and 1.6-litre petrol engines and a 2.2-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder with 136- and 170bhp. Prices will be about £3,000 more than an A-class, which means the likely bestselling CLA 180 will cost about £25,000.

The new Mercedes E-class has a mid-cycle facelift in all its forms. There’s a lot of new technology on this car, which is Mercedes’s most profitable model. In the old days, such tech would have to wait until this year’s launch of the new S-class. These days, as Thomas Weber, member of the board of management explains, the company pushes driving and safety improvements across all its models as they are renewed. So the new E-class gets a revised assistance package with Collision Prevention Assist and Attention Assist from the forthcoming S-class. There are mildly tweaked looks and more standard equipment including standard DAB radios.

The UK’s biggest seller is the saloon, which has sold more than 40,198 in five years, the coupé has done 17,234 in the same period, the estate 10,966 and the cabriolet 11,917. The sales balance for the new model isn’t expected to differ, although you never know as there’s also a similarly updated 557bhp V8 AMG version in saloon (above)and estate form. There’s also a new AMG S specification with an uprated 585bhp engine, which is just the thing you need for family holidays – it could catch on.